Alex Harvey ends World Cup cross-country in Norway with another top-10 finish
Canadian places 9th in ski pursuit on Sunday
Alex Harvey of St-Férréol-les-Neiges, Que. put together his best race of the young season to finish ninth in the 15- kilometre classic ski pursuit on Sunday in Lillehammer, Norway.
It was his third straight top-10 finish of the weekend to wrap up a three-day mini-tour.
Starting time behind the leaders based on the results of the opening two days, Harvey quickly worked his way into a pack of seven athletes who were chasing the front-runner, Calle Halfvarsson of Sweden.
Harvey skied comfortably in the pack which grew to 10 and stayed with the group until the 12-km mark where Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby broke away from the pack.
Harvery, 28, was not able to respond to the charge for the podium, but still managed to post the sixth fastest time of the day.
"Having the sixth fastest time on the day is my best result of the season so I'm happy with that," Harvey said. "The Norwegians were pressing really hard from the beginning so it was a fast pace. I just spent too much energy early on and had nothing left at the end."
Harvey also earned 10th place in both Friday's sprint and Saturday's 10-km skate-ski race.
"These are great results for me on courses that historically have been tough for me. I have never been at my best before Christmas so I'm really happy with where things are right now. The big goal is the Tour de Ski, and until then, I just need to stay the course."
Sundby finished on top of the pack and won the mini-tour, after skiing to a time of 39 minutes, 36.8. seconds. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, also of Norway, was second at 39:39.1, while Finland's Matti Heikkinen was third at 39:39.5.
Harvey clocked in at 39:53.0
Devon Kershaw, of Sudbury, Ont. time of 41:45.3 was the 23rd fastest.
"Today was a good step in the right direction. After being disappointed with the first couple races at this mini-tour, I was happy to move through some bodies today and clamber into the top-30," Kershaw said.
The World Cup now travels to Davos, Switzerland.